Coin operated machines have long been the target for various acts of theft and vandalism; the object being to either obtain the coins from the machine or to cause the machine to operate without the necessity of inserting a coin. With the advent of arcades and similar amusement locations where coin operated games are located, forced entry into the coin box of the machine has resulted in substantial losses to the arcade operators. In addition to forced entry, losses are also incurred as a result of "coin-flipping" which is a procedure involving inserting a finger in the coin return slot of the machine and propelling or flipping a coin into the slot with sufficient force to trip the operating switch causing the machine to operate as though a coin had been inserted in the coin insert slot. In this fashion a player can operate the machine without inserting coins. This type of loss has been difficult to prevent and, in the case of arcade game machines, can occur for substantial periods without the operator or vendor being aware of the loss in revenue due to free play.
Various devices have been proposed for securing areas subject to forced entry such as, for example, closures for buildings, the rear doors of a trailer of a tractor-trailer rig and the like.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,269,048 a door locking system for securing adjacent doors having a common closure line is shown consisting of a locking bar affixed at one end to one door and extending across the common closure line to the second door. The locking bar is secured by a locking pin affixed to the second door and pin cover is detachably locked over an extending end of the locking pin when the locking bar is in its securing position.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,806,179 discloses a bar lock which extends across a door from a hinge to an eye bolt on the door frame. In this fashion the locking bar ties the door to the frame so that the bolt of the door lock cannot be separated from the door jamb by prying on the door frame.
Although these devices may be effective in preventing the forcible opening of a closure, they are not particularly suited for preventing theft and vandalism of coin operated machines, especially video game machines encountered in arcades.